Orioles' Nick Markakis will undergo an MRI on injured neck

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Nick Markakis, who has not played since March 1 because of neck spasms and stiffness, will undergo a precautionary MRI on Monday, Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Saturday.

Showalter said he didn’t want to “downplay” the significance of the injury, and instead would just wait to see what the tests showed.

“When you get something that kind of crops up twice, you know, information is a good thing. Until you get all the information ... we’ll see. I haven’t been told anything to make me think there’s a sense of urgency with that,” Showalter said. “I asked Nick about it and he goes, ‘whatever.’ We’ll see.”

Markakis said Wednesday that he was feeling better and that he would have played through the discomfort if it were the regular season. But he was playing with his sons Thursday and felt the pain again. And it hasn’t gotten better.

“It wasn’t much improved today, though,” Showalter said Saturday. “About the same as yesterday. It gets better as the day goes on, and when he wakes up, it’s real stiff.”

The 28-year-old Markakis hit .298 with 13 homers in 109 games last season. It was the first time he played fewer than 147 games in his career. He had three separate operations in 2012 – abdomen surgery in January; wrist surgery in June and thumb surgery in September.